Monday, July 9, 2012

Beating the Heat

First of all, before I start telling you all about the exciting Fourth of July we had, (yes, I realize it's over and that no one cares anymore), I need to say something equally as important. As I've been indulging my addiction to other people's blogs, I've noticed that a lot of people are irritated that it's Monday. As in, not looking forward to Monday morning workouts, not excited that it's time to get "back to the grind", not anxiously anticipating how great this week is going to be. WHY???? To that I say, GET OVER IT. I get it- you're back to work today and you don't want to be. So what? You're one day closer to pay day. It's time to get a fresh start on your goals, start looking forward to all of the things you're going to accomplish this week, and fall back in to your routine. It's Monday!

NOW BE EXCITED!!

2 cute kids just chillin' on the Fourth. Except it wasn't chilly.
It was ridiculously hot.
Also, it was a great day to get spider webs and skulls painted on your body.

So, back to the Fourth. I woke up early, ready to run. Remember I made a goal to sign up for a race? Well, I did it. (Ok, I'm lying. I *picked* a race to run on the 4th, but didn't actually register until I got there.) There were actually about a billion races happening locally that day, and I settled on a 2-miler. I was thinking about going for an official 5K, but figured that 2 miles would be much more manageable in the heat. (Not because I've barely been running or anything that silly, OBVI).

I found a friend who was gracious enough to sign up with me. I'm not even gonna lie- the thought of running with someone made me totally nervous, even though this chick and I have been friends for about 10 years, and nothing about her makes me nervous. I always run solo, and was scared that I'd be holding her back. And I'm sure I was. But she still stuck with me. She's so nice.

A 10K was happening at the same time as our 2-miler, and my friend ran in to some people she knew during registration. When they asked us which race we were doing, they responded with things like, "Well, at least you showed up" and "What are you gonna do, challenge yourself and run it backwards?" Very funny, Jerks. Have fun running over 6 miles in the blazing heat.

And yeah, it was crazy hot out. I actually remember the weather man saying later that night that Wednesday was the hottest day of the summer so far. Awesome. What a great day for a non-runner (me) to go for a run. Even though the race started at 8 in the morning, it was already gross out. We lined up (and yes, we were right in front this time), and we were feeling great. Totally ready to reach our goal of banging these miles out in less than 20 minutes. And then I overheard the superstar runners next to me having a conversation:

Quick Guy 1: you gonna try to beat 14 minutes?
QG 2: I doubt I can go faster than that in this humidity. Plus with those hills...
QG 1: Yeah, make sure you save some energy for that big one at the end.

WAIT Stop Hold the phone Come again.... HILLS????? Please tell me they were lying. I've NEVER run up a hill before. Oh God. I was gonna die.

Proof that running happened. And yes,
I wore a flag bandana as a sweat band then entire time.
I'm pretty sure it made me run faster.

I looked at my friend and she looked at me. I can't do this, I told her. "Yes you can, just remember that the faster you run, the quicker you're done," she said. And that turned in to my mantra. We started running, and she was already going quicker than I had planned on starting. But I kept up with her and just kept reminding myself to keep my feet moving so that it could be over. And we got to the first hill. I tried to dominate it, dug my feet in, and passed people. I got to the top and was so thankful for the neighbors who were standing at the edge of their lawn with a hose to run through.

I was SO hot.

But I kept moving my feet, refusing to give in to the fact that my mind was telling me to slow down. I was about half way done when I realized that the timer on my watch wasn't working! OMG! I'm pretty sure these are the only words I panted out the whole time my friend was trying to talk to me, and I'm pretty sure she wanted to punch me when I told her. But she didn't, and we decided it didn't matter how quickly we were going anyway- all we had to do was finish.

I slowed down a little, and tried not to think about the fact that there was another hill before it was over. I think about 17 8-year-olds passed me at this point.

I was overheating.

But I kept going and then saw the slow and steady way that the road up ahead of me started to climb. Oh Hell NO.

About half way up, I wasn't sure if I was going to walk, stop moving all together and just drop out, faint, puke, or die; but I was fairly certain that I wasn't going to finish while still doing something that resembled running. And then, (thank the LORD), I saw the finish line.

I ran. Faster. Partly out of desire to have this train-wreck be behind me, but mostly because I didn't want the spectators to think that I couldn't even make it through 2 measly miles while hundreds were about to crush 6.2.

And when I ran across the finish line, not only did I fail to look at the freaking clock, but when I hit the paddle that a girl was shoving in my face, she said, "nope". NOPE????? Are you effing kidding me that I just almost killed myself to finish this blasted race and my time didn't even register??????

But my friend assured me that the clock said 18:45 as she went across, and I was literally right on her heels. So we said that my time must have been 18:48. So that's what we're sticking with: 18:48. Also known as: I SMASHED MY GOAL!!!!!!! (I looked up my "official" time on line later, and it actually did register. As 18:54, but it also said my friend was 5 seconds later than the clock told her... so we're still sticking with the faster times. Their official-ness was *obviously* wrong.)

I'm so happy that I did this race, so grateful for my friend who pushed me, and so excited that I didn't actually die so that I could sit around and eat my face off for the rest of the day.

About Me

I'm just a hot-mess mama trying to make sense of it all: my kids, my health, my fitness, my happiness... they're all important, right? Now, how do I keep it all together???? Hmmm... join me on my journey as I try to figure it all out!